The name of Jesus was proclaimed joyously in song and in speech at the funeral of George Floyd on Tuesday, 9 June 2020. His life was celebrated by a community wider than he could possibly have imagined.
The church in his hometown of Houston owned him as a son and it was a beautiful name that was declared over the watching nations, the name of JESUS!
It was full-on gospel1 – abandoned, joyous and declamatory in song, speech and sermon. There were raw human notes and emotions ran high. I gaped agog at the screen as the name of Jesus was repeated over and over again in one gospel song and as, live on TV, the ‘armour of God’ verses from Ephesians 6 poured forth from our national broadcaster, perhaps for the first time (I had subtitles on and it took the feed a while to get the word ‘Ephesians’, but they managed it in the end after an initial complete omission – you could picture heads being scratched!).
The roof was truly raised by gospel soloists and a socially distanced choir in exuberant praise.
BBC’s Gospel Broadcast
The BBC broadcast this blazing gospel service in full because they felt it to be in the public interest and the right thing to do. Happily, they could not possibly edit the name of Jesus or his praise out of it.
White House inaugural prayers are talked over by BBC commentators, but this was broadcast uncut and without interpretive comments to tell us what to think. The BBC unwittingly took the nation to church. On other channels, the name of Jesus was a swear word, but at George Floyd’s funeral the name of Jesus was declared in joyful abandon by the most singular, triumphant gospel voices currently in song.
The Power of the Blood
The service began with Andrae Crouch’s ‘The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power’: It soothes my doubts and calms my fears and it dries all my tears / The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power.2
Joe Biden sent a carefully worded message of Bible-referencing solidarity to the family. The Obamas had apparently been on the phone, but did not attend so that the service was not overwhelmed by their security detail. The Rev Al Sharpton challenged the assembly to be there for the Floyd family when the cameras were gone.
The BBC unwittingly took the nation to church.
Pray for that family - that justice will be done, that they will follow the Lord and truly know him, that they will not give in to bitterness and despair. The chief prayer and hope of the mourners was that this death not be in vain. Because beneath the current ferment and the triumphant praise of this singular occasion another story lurks: deprivation, cycles of violence and criminality, dependency and hopelessness. Generations of black men crying out for their fathers. Generations of mothers mourning their children’s wasted lives, snuffed out by drugs and gang violence.
And for those who have worked and struggled and achieved, prejudice still rises up to meet them, evidenced shortly before George Floyd died in a telling encounter between a black male bird-watcher in Central Park and a white female dog walker, who tried to criminalise him, that went viral on the internet.3
The Colour of Redemption
Hear me! Notice me! Save me! The cry rang out from this extraordinary funeral. Yes! Black lives do matter. Black lives are made in God’s image and are of supreme worth and value. Black lives count. But black lives matter because they are God’s – it is the Lord who gives breath and life and value.
We are made in the image of our Creator, whether we are black or white.
Yet the colour we should really celebrate is not black or white, but red – the red of the blood shed at the Cross, the blood that redeems us whatever colour we are, the blood that washes clean, that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel, let alone the blood of George Floyd. We celebrate the blood of Jesus which cleanses from all sin, the blood which paid our ransom, the blood that is the bond of freedom for people of every race.
The funeral of George Floyd flagged up injustice, but the banner over it was love – the love of the Saviour.
References
1 'Full-on gospel' refers to the gospel music style of the service.
2 The Songs and Scriptures of George Floyd’s Houston Funeral. Christianity Today, 9 June 2020.
3 See coverage at The Telegraph, 26 May 2020.
Addendum (19 June 2020)
A word of clarification from the author:
This article was a sketch of a specific event, intending to draw attention to the irony of our national broadcaster televising a proclamation of the name of Jesus in Scripture and song, broadcast uninterrupted and in full, because it was politically correct to do so. Gospel music services (the term 'full-on gospel' refers to the style of service - gospel music and a particular style of preaching with music accompanying the sermon towards the climax) are core elements of black American culture and could not be side-stepped by the broadcaster. It was a noteworthy moment and one that many might have missed. The hope was also to inspire prayer for the family, the mourners and those who heard the broadcast, for the Lord to be at work in their lives. Every church service is a gathering of sinners with 'mixture' present to a greater or lesser degree. However, one can always rejoice when the name of Jesus is lifted up and brought before people who may never ordinarily hear it.
The occasion was described as 'singular' and 'extraordinary' in the article. These are not terms of unequivocal praise. Naming the people who were there is simply descriptive for those who did not see the broadcast – it does not imply agreement with or endorsement of their views. The article finishes with a reminder of Christians’ true source of praise and celebration – the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our editorial published at the same time dealt with the background to the Black Lives Matter movement and some of its wider issues. This and the other articles published by Prophecy Today UK on this topic explore different angles and ideas but cohere on the central importance of the Gospel as the solution to injustice. This is expressed in different ways in each piece.